Mecca summit 'supports Palestinians' ahead of controversial Bahrain meeting

A Saudi-hosted summit on Saturday allegedly threw its support behind Palestinians ahead of a US-led peace plan suspected to be skewed in favour of Israel, amid rising tensions between Palestinian factions and other Arab states ahead of a Bahrain meeting.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, the third and final Iran-focused summit in the holy city of Mecca this week, denounced controversial US moves to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem and recognise Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The summit of the 57-member bloc, marked by the notable absence of Iranian and Turkish leaders, called for a "boycott" of countries that have opened diplomatic missions in the city. 

Trump broke with decades of bipartisan policy to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017.

The OIC's statement comes as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner prepares to roll out economic aspects of his long-awaited Middle East peace plan at a conference in Bahrain later this month.

The plan, which has been heavily talked up by Trump and dubbed his "deal of the century", has already been rejected by the Palestinians, who say the president's policies have shown him to be overwhelmingly biased in favour of Israel.

On Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a ceremony in Ramallah that President Donald Trump's administration's proposed peace plan "will go to hell", according to local news sources.

"The Palestinian Authority does not recognise this conference," Abbas said at a Ramallah event, "Trump's "Deal of the Century" will go to hell, as will the economic workshop in Bahrain that the Americans intend to hold."

"Whoever is interested in proposing a solution to the Palestinian issue should begin with a diplomatic solution," Abbas added in Monday comments.

The Palestinians had already said they had not been informed about the event and were expected not to attend but confirmed the stance on Wednesday.

"Palestine will not attend the Manama meeting," a statement on the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) website said.

"This is a collective Palestinian position, from President Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO Executive Committee to all Palestinian political movements and factions, national figures, private sector and civil society."

The White House has so far not provided details on attendees but a number of prominent Palestinian businessmen have said they rejected invites to the event.

The Palestinians have boycotted the US administration since President Donald Trump broke with decades of consensus and recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017.

The Palestinians see the eastern part of the disputed city as the capital of their future state.

Kushner, who was in Jerusalem on Friday on the latest leg of a regional tour to sell the plan, had looked to an alliance with Saudi Arabia against Iran as a way to gain Arab support.

Three days before Kushner's trip to the Middle East, Trump authorised $8.1 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, bypassing Congress.

Arms sales to the kingdom were frozen after the assassination of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in October and in response to mounting concerns over the human toll of a Saudi-led armed campaign in Yemen.

But the administration defended the sales as necessary "to deter Iranian aggression and build partner self-defense capacity."

But Saudi King Salman told leaders of the OIC countries gathered at the summit: "The Palestinian cause is the cornerstone of the works of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is the focus of our attention until the brotherly Palestinian people get all their legitimate rights.

"We reaffirm our unequivocal rejection of any measures that would prejudice the historical and legal status of Quds (Jerusalem).”

The Bahrain conference is due to be held on the 25 and 26 June.

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